Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting near Wake Island, 21 April 1962

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and a supporting naval message detailing an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting reported by the crew of the USS Thomaston on April 21, 1962. The sighting occurred near Wake Island at approximately 0750Z on April 22, 1962. The object was described by the ship's personnel—including the Officer of the Deck, Junior Officer of the Deck, Operations Officer, a lookout, and a quartermaster—as a round, white, pea-sized object. The witnesses observed the object for eight minutes using the naked eye and binoculars. It was noted to have no tail and made no sound. The object followed a circular path, initially sighted at a bearing of 332 degrees with an elevation of 35 degrees, before eventually disappearing. The weather conditions at the time were reported as excellent, with unlimited visibility and ceiling, and only three-tenths cloud cover. Following an evaluation of the reported trajectory and the specific timing of the observation, the incident was officially classified as an observation of the Echo I satellite. The documentation includes the original naval message sent from the USS Thomaston to various naval commands and the subsequent project record card used by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) to track such reports. The classification of the document was later cancelled in January 1968.